Dead End
by wildchild494
Summary: War breaks out in Terminal City, and in the end only Max and Alec are left. Will they be able to admit their love for one another before they reach a dead end? MA!
1. Aftermath

Spoilers: Takes place after the episode Freak Nation.  
  
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me except the original characters.  
  
Chapter One: Aftermath  
  
Prologue  
  
Seattle, Washington D.C. November 28, 2022  
  
Terminal City, the city that the transgenics of Seattle had once called their home now lay in ruins, along with the blood caked bodies of the soldiers who engaged in the war. A pair of searching brown eyes swept through the destroyed city, looking desperately for any sign of survivors. But to no avail.  
  
Max stood, trembling from head to foot. The aftermath of the war had beyond shaken her. A guilty shadow now followed her. The reason why so many were lying in their graves right now was because of her... "I'm so sorry," she whispered to the twilight, dropping down to her knees in a helpless heap. She knelt on the roof of the building that was once TC's Command Center. The roof that no longer held the flag that Joshua had painted...  
  
Flashback  
  
'Hey Joshua," Max greeted the transhuman who grinned at her. 'Watcha doin'?'  
  
'It's a flag, our flag.' Joshua smiled soberly at her, before explaining his masterpiece. He started by pointing to the barcode. 'This is you, me, even them. Its all of us.' He paused before moving on to the black stripe. 'This is where we came from, where they tried to keep us.'  
  
'In the dark.' Max whispered, remembering all the times she had spent hiding from the police, all the times she had spent in the dark cells of Manticore.  
  
Joshua nodded. 'Secret.' He pointed to the red stripe. 'This is where we are now, because our blood is being spilled.'  
  
Max shut her eyes for a split second, remembering those who didn't quite make it. Ben, Zack, Tinga...She opened them again and saw Joshua gesturing to the white stripe. 'This is where we want to go.'  
  
'Into the light.' Max continued for him. They were sick of hiding. It was time that they had their own lives. But how can that be when the rest of the world wanted them dead?  
  
End Flashback  
  
'Into the light'. The words echoed in her head. They had done just that. Exposed themselves to the world that was the reality of the lives of many. But the second they walked out into the world, they were rejected. They were dubbed as 'freaks', freaks who were an insult to nature. An insult to humanity. A danger to everyone.  
  
'And its all my fault'. Max thought. It was she who released them all from Manticore. She brought them out into the world. She had thought that they would be safe here, that they would finally have a chance to live a normal life, that they would have a sense of freedom and belonging. But she was wrong.  
  
The occurrence that every transgenic and transhuman had feared for, had taken place, right in the middle of Terminal City...right in the middle of their own home. War had erupted. The government had attacked with more than three hundred armed men. And with only a hundred transgenics with nothing to defend themselves save for a gun each...  
  
They knew that they were fighting a losing battle, but nevertheless, they plunged into it, exuding more confidence and determination than anyone of them truly felt... She stood up and once again faced the graveyard that stretched on below her...  
  
Flashback  
  
Police cars swarmed into the frontage of Terminal City, facing the 'trannies' who stood unwaveringly in front of them, their eyes alight with purpose.  
  
Clemente signaled to his fellow cops. "All right, let's back it up people! Outside the fence! Move!" And as swiftly as the cars had driven into their 'territory', they once again disappeared, leaving Clemente alone with his car, weaponless. He climbed out of it, his face set in a neutral expression. But his eyes betrayed his reverence.  
  
"You kept today from turning into a bloodbath," he addressed Max who watched him warily. "And I respect that But you haven't won anything. This is gonna get real ugly, and this is way over my head now. These people's lives depend on the decisions that you make right now. I pray you make the right ones...Max."  
  
End Flashback  
  
Clemente was right. It 'did' get real ugly. And the whole city of transgenics had depended on her. Depended on her to make the right decisions. 'And look where my decisions took us...a battlefield filled with the dead bodies of my people.'  
  
Tears welled up in Max's eyes, and for the first time in so many months, they fell.  
  
And she wept.  
  
"Dead End"  
  
Alec watched her from across the roof, respecting her privacy. Beside him stood Logan, Joshua, and two other X5s: Devon, and Kade. All of them wearing the same grim expressions. Out of the hundred of their brethren, only the five of them survived. And each of them carried guilty hearts. Alec knew that it truly wasn't their fault. But they couldn't help feeling accountable of the lives they neglected to help. The fact that they survived and the others didn't was a lot to take in.  
  
"What are we going to do now?" Devon asked, in a helpless tone. His jet- black hair stood up in all directions, and his face was covered in dirt. Alec remembered him from Manticore. He used to be the Commanding Officer of one of the units. And the verity that he didn't know what to do proved the vulnerability of situation. The cops would be back by tomorrow, cleaning up the mess. And Alec knew that if they didn't clear out of here soon, they were going to be wiped out as well. But where would they go? That was the big question.  
  
"I wouldn't be surprised if today's incident is on international news now," Alec said, watching his breath came out as a misty fog. Evening was setting in, and it was starting to get very cold. "And I doubt we'll be able to go anywhere without getting caught. Every exit from Seattle would be heavily guarded, no doubt."  
  
"We're trapped," Kade, a petite blonde who was tending a bullet wound to the arm said. Other than Kade, none of them were wounded, which only increased the feeling of guilt on their shoulders. Alec shut his eyes for a split second, remembering the terrified look on Mole's face when he was bombarded by several gun shots. The two of them had pushed through the battle together, and it pained Alec to his comrade fall.  
  
"Are we going to die, Middle fella?" Joshua whimpered, his sad expression showing the puppy in him. Alec turned to look at his canine friend, opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. 'Are we going to die?' He asked himself. Even he didn't know that answer.  
  
Kade sympathized the transhuman and patted him soothing only the arm. "Don't worry Josh, we're not going to die." She said confidently, and in a low voice that only the two other X5s could hear said: "We're going to die."  
  
"No we're not," Devon said, although his voice trembled as he spoke.  
  
"You know, I always thought I was going to have sex before I died." Logan said wistfully, eyeing Kade who jumped back several steps, her expression stricken with horror. If the situation wasn't so serious, Alec would've found the fact that Logan hadn't had any, amusing.  
  
"Logan, can't you make passports for us or something?" Alec asked, his head spinning, looking for a country that was unaware of the existence of transgenics.  
  
Logan broke out of whatever fantasy he was having and stared at Alec. "Where would you go? Like you said, today's incident would be on international news. The countries' entry areas would be surely watched."  
  
Alec shrugged, already feeling defeated. "I dunno, the North Pole?" Kade snorted.  
  
"And how the hell are we gonna survive 'there'? Eat penguins?" a new voice asked, dubiously. Five pairs of eyes turned to look at the person who had joined their little group.  
  
"Max," Alec breathed, staring at her. Her dark brown hair was damp with sweat. And there was blood on her blue jacket. There were dark circles under her eyes which were slightly red from her crying. She would've looked like shit if it wasn't for the smile that was on her face. It was a weak smile, but nevertheless, a genuine one.  
  
"Are you okay?" Logan immediately asked, moving closer to Max but at a good enough distance.  
  
Max nodded, but her smile vanished. "Yeah." She glanced over at the land beyond the building they were standing on, and said: "I figured that there was no use crying over what was lost. What's done is done. What's lost is lost. There's nothing we can do to change what happened, to change the ordinary's feelings towards us transgenics." Her eyes flitted upward briefly. "Today, our family's blood was spilled," They ducked their head in respect. "But they're souls have moved on to the Good Place. They can rest there now. Manticore may have told us that we don't have souls, that we're simply just animals. But the war earlier have proved them wrong. We held our own well, we worked together as one. As a family. We may have lost the war. But our souls will never be lost."  
  
"That was quite a speech, Maxie." Alec said, impressed. He always knew that Max had a thing for speeches. They may be really long at times, but they struck everybody right in the heart.  
  
"And she's right," Kade said, smiling. The three other males were nodding in agreement.  
  
"So where do you suggest we head to?" Alec asked, "Since you contradicted my suggestion of flying to the North Pole...wait a second—you're not scared of penguins, are you?"  
  
Max raised an eyebrow. "I'm a genetically enhanced super soldier, Alec. Of course I'm afraid of penguins."  
  
"Ah yes, sarcasm." Alec said, with a grin. Max's speech, certainly lifted the heavy weight of his shoulder. And he rather felt amiable right now.  
  
"Maybe we should drive off to Vancouver," Devon said, thoughtfully. "It's the closest city to Seattle. And we could lay low there for a while until we come up with a much better plan."  
  
"Why don't we just come up with a much better plan now?" Kade asked, punching Devon playfully on the shoulder. He scowled at her, but his eyes were laughing. Alec realized that Max's words of wisdom had made the guilt that surrounded them evaporate.  
  
"Devon's plan doesn't sound so bad," Max said, her head tilted to one side in deep contemplation. Alec guessed that a plan was already forming in her head. Alec knew for a fact that Max was an expert on Escape and Evade. "Vancouver was one of the cities that was thoroughly affected by the Pulse. As far as I know, they're running low on weaponry and security. And since there are five of us, it won't be too hard to clear the sector point."  
  
"Max's right," Alec agreed, recalling one of his Manticore away-missions in Vancouver. With his superior memory, he could easily map out Vancouver in his head, and every other building that existed there. "There's this old warehouse a few meters into Vancouver. I've passed it a few times on one of my missions there. It's obviously never been used for years. The five of us could crash there for a while."  
  
Logan looked slightly affronted by their planning. "What do you mean the five of you? I'm coming with you guys." He said, testing his exoskeleton to see if it was still working. Alec didn't say anything, those exos saved his life during the fight with White and the Phalanx.  
  
"Logan, you can't. It's too dangerous." Max countered. "There is a huge possibility that White would be here in TC, finding my dead body and Alec's. When he realizes that were still alive...he won't stop hunting us down." Alec almost forgot about White. He himself had been captured by White once, and if it wasn't for Max. He'd be as good as dead. And he had no intention of getting caught—again. Because only hell knew if he was going to get out of White's clutches alive.  
  
"Max, I'm a grown man. I'm willing to take the risk," Logan resisted.  
  
"A grown man who hasn't had sex," Alec murmured under his breath. Devon must have heard him because he snickered. Fortunately, Logan didn't notice.  
  
"This is no time to play the hero Logan, you're staying. And that's final." Max said in a tone that brooked no arguments.  
  
Nevertheless, Logan kept on insisting. "But I may never see you again," he whined. "And I haven't found the cure for the virus. You can't leave me here—not yet."  
  
"Not when you haven't had sex yet," Alec muttered again in a low tone. This time, Devon and Kade didn't bother to hide their laughter. Logan ignored them. So did Max, who took a step closer to Logan, daring to be as close as possible.  
  
"Logan, this is for the best." Max said, her gaze unwavering as she stared Logan straight in the eye. Logan looked away, the hurt apparent in his face.  
  
"Fine—but at least take this," he said pulling out what vaguely looked like a thousand dollar bill out of his inner jacket pocket. Alec's vision zeroed on it, and this time he caught the numbers: 1000 clearly printed on the top right corner of the crumpled green bill.  
  
'Trust Logan to go to war carrying one thousand dollars in his pocket'. Alec thought dryly. But hey, he wasn't complaining. He wasn't complaining one bit. It wasn't that big of a amount, but it would be enough for the five transgenics to survive for the next couple of days. Max took it without question, probably knowing that if she didn't, Logan would never leave.  
  
"Now, go before anyone sees you with us," Max said. Logan inhaled deeply before nodding at Max, and shaking Alec's hand and whispering to him so that only he could hear. "Take care of her for me. Treat her right...I know that you're the only one who would be able to keep her happy."  
  
And Logan turned his heel and left. Until he was only a tiny black dot from a distance.  
  
"You still got your bikes?" she asked all of them. They nodded almost immediately. They were careful enough to stash their rides in a well-hidden place in TC just in case someone wanted them dead and they had to make a quick getaway. That time came right about now. "Let's blaze people."  
  
A/N: Please review people!!! 


	2. Warehouse 12

Spoilers: Takes place after the episode Freak Nation.  
  
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me except the original characters.  
  
A/N: I don't really know If White works for the NSA, but in my story, he does. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED!!!  
  
Chapter Two: Warehouse Twelve  
  
A sleek black Mercedes braked smoothly in front of Terminal City's frontage. Behind it, two black vans followed suit. Night had fallen, and darkness blanketed the bodies of the dead, making them almost invisible in the dark night. The smell of blood and rotting flesh floated in the air, giving the atmosphere a sense of foreboding.  
  
Ames White climbed out of the Mercedes, his face stony, his stormy gray eyes freezing. For a few seconds he stood just outside the decrepit gates of TC, surveying the scene of carnage illustrating itself in colors of red and black in front of him. A sardonic smile of satisfaction materialized on his pale face. Almost two hundred corpses, both human and transgenic were scattered across 'Transgenic Central'; a beautiful feast waiting for him to forage through.  
  
He snapped his fingers, and a dozen soldiers under the NSA agency emerged from the black vans, clutching their weapons in a defensive position. "Search the entire area for survivors," he ordered icily. "Terminate them, human or not. I want this place empty of any living beings."  
  
The soldiers nodded, and after slipping on their night goggles, fled into the vicinity. White snapped his fingers again, and Otto, and two other NSA agents climbed out of the black car. "Scavenge the place for 452, and 494." He spit out the numbers with great dislike. "If you find them. Kill them."  
  
The three of them nodded, pulling out their pistols and cocking them. And with a deep scowl firmly plastered on his face. He followed, his gun aimed, ready and set to kill.  
  
Three motorcycles rumbled to a stop, sixteen feet away from the sector point. It was a moonless night, and the glittering stars that adorned the sky above them was covered by gray thunderclouds waiting for the right moment to pour. Five transgenics blended easily into the darkness, their night vision kicking in, focusing on the small guard house standing in the center of two opened iron gates.  
  
"Three guards, armed." Kade informed from behind Devon. "We can take them out, easy."  
  
"Ready?" Max asked, looking at an all too cocky Alec, and a frightened Joshua who clung behind Max.  
  
"Always," Alec said with a impish smile. And with one last glance at one another, they sped towards the oblivious guards, who stared at them in surprise. But before they could raised their gun, they were rendered unconscious by a simple punch in their solar plexus. That move was going to keep them out cold for about an hour at the least. That was more than enough for Max, and her friends to find a place to lay low for a while.  
  
After passing the withered sign: 'Welcome to Vancouver', a slight drizzle had begun. Drenching all of them in a very damp and soggy manner. Very uncomfortable, especially for the X5s who had feline DNA. Cats never liked water, and neither did Max.  
  
"Where are we going?" Devon yelled over the rumble of their bikes. They finally emerged from the roads lined on the sides with thick grove of trees, and they found themselves speeding through dilapidated buildings, and dimly lit diners.  
  
"Warehouse 12. It's located near the docks. Just a few more minutes." Alec shouted back. The slow drizzle had transformed into a steady downpour. And their bikes skidded through the slick streets. Thunder crashed loudly from above, followed by a bright flash of lightning, illuminating their faces briefly. There was another mean clap of thunder before the electricity in the passing buildings blacked out completely. Max took this as an advantage. If White, or the Sector cops would go looking for them, they would find it incredibly difficult in the blackness of the city.  
  
They were now nearing the ocean, and Max caught a whiff of the salty waves slamming against the walls of the pier, competing the with thunder. There were no ships to be seen floating on the wharf, and by the looks of the place. It hadn't been used for centuries.  
  
"There it is!" Alec called out, raising one hand from the handlebars of his bike to point at a rusted old warehouse that was slowly coming into view. They slid to a stop in front of it, and Alec and Joshua got out to open the large metal doors. It took several minutes of creaking and pushing to finally get it to open. And the five of them raced into their only shelter, grateful to be out of the rain.  
  
Devon and Kade slid the doors back to a close and sighed with relief. "Finally, we can get some rest." Devon said glancing around the building. Max did the same, taking in their temporary home for the night. It was full of empty metal crates that were labeled in wine-red ink: fragile. Whatever it was that used to be inside the containers, it must've been expensive...and breakable.  
  
"Look what I found," Alec said appearing from behind a particularly large crate. He was carrying an armful of cloth. A triumphant smile was on his face and tossed them one each. Joshua instantly fell asleep. Kade and Devon set their blankets beside each other and dropped onto them in a graceful pile. They watched with half-opened eyes as the two X5s in front of them conversed.  
  
"But its polka-dotted," Max said staring at the bright pink spots that were dotted across the purple cloth.  
  
"So?" Alec asked, raising an eyebrow. He actually looked amused. And that was when Max noticed that only hers was polka-dotted. Alec was carrying a green one, that was identical to the others'.  
  
"Do you actually expect me to sleep on pink polka-dotted blankets?" Max asked, staring at it in disbelief. Who ever invented polka dots was a complete moron.  
  
"Polka dots suit you Maxie," Alec said with a teasing grin.  
  
"No they don't," Max said with a frown, although her lips twitched. "I find them incredibly distracting...like you for instance," she shot at Alec whose grin only widened.  
  
"Really Maxie? I didn't know you were so distracted by me," he said, a mischievous twinkle in hazel-green eyes. "Of course, I do find myself handsome in so many ways..."  
  
"Shut up Alec," Max said, and at the same moment she flung her blanket at him, covering his whole face. Max burst out laughing. Alec grumbled something that distinctly sounded like: 'polka-dotted moron' as he pulled it off his face. It was then that Max realized that this was the first time she laughed in so many days. Sometimes, Alec had a way of doing that to her. Making her laugh even in the most serious situations.  
  
"If you hate it so much, you could share mine," Alec said, grinning devilishly at her.  
  
Max rolled her eyes, and smiled. "Go to sleep pretty boy," she said, and to her surprise he did. Devon and Kade had already drifted off, and it wasn't long until Alec's breathing equaled. It was then that she felt the tiredness and exhaustion begging for her body to rest. Even her shark DNA had its limits. The rain still poured outside, and with the soothing rhythm of the raindrops pattering on the rooftop, Max fell into a peaceful slumber. 


	3. The Manticore

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews people!!! And don't worry! This story won't have a dead end – well, sort of...But anyway... just keep on reading!!!  
  
Chapter Three: The Manticore  
  
Colonel Donald Lydecker traced the Manticore symbol engraved on the ivory cane that was once Sandeman's with his fingers. The cane was painted a resplendent black, giving it a façade of elegance.  
  
The Manticore was a myth, and Lydecker had wondered why Sandeman would ever name his organization after the mythical animal. Lydecker had researched about it, being Colonel of the New Manticore, it was his obligation to know the meaning behind the sign. He had just finished reading one of the books that contained the story of the Manticore, and a smile of understanding appeared on his ageing face.  
  
Sandeman had made and designed the perfect soldier. And in some ways, his created soldiers were very much alike with the Manticore. With the grace of a cat, and the strength of a lion, the transgenics are very powerful creatures. They are deadly assassins that attack without mercy. They're exterior may be beautiful, but within them lies a feral animal that brings fear to those who gets caught in its claws.  
  
The New Manticore was currently under construction on the outskirts of Seattle, and he was trying to keep it under wraps as much as possible. He had already recruited a number of geneticists to work for him, and they were already hard at work at creating the new generation of soldiers: The X10s. 'It's a good thing that I was able to keep the genetic plans of the X5s.' Lydecker thought, clicking through the files on his laptop. The X5s were by far the most successful generation of the series. But they had one minor flaw: independence. And Lydecker was careful enough to inform the geneticists of this defect.  
  
Other than that, the New Manticore was getting on smoothly. In a few years' time, they'd be able to produce the X10s. 'Although, if I could get my hands on two certain X5s, I won't have to wait so long to have the X10s.' Lydecker mused, as two photos of X5-494, and X5-452 popped onto his computer screen. A caption on the bottom of their pictures told him that they were designated to be breeding partners. And Lydecker was almost positive that the results of their breeding would've been impeccable.  
  
With 452's no junk DNA, and 494's superior enhanced genes, an all too perfect X10 would be the outcome. Of course, the geneticists would have to make a few alterations regarding their...attitudes. Both X5s were induced with such stubbornness and self-determination that led them to their disobedience and rebellion. They failed to follow orders quite efficiently. And it was a huge flaw in Lydecker's book. Nevertheless, their DNA and breeding results were worth millions of dollars, also making them essential in Lydecker's book.  
  
Very essential.  
  
A knock resonated from his office door: "Enter," he barked. One of the soldiers (an ordinary one from the army) that he had set to work on finding the location of the two transgenics came scurrying in.  
  
"We have found them, sir." The guard said, handing him a tape. "They're in Vancouver, Canada. The surveillance cameras at the entry sector point recorded the whole scene. That was taken around eleven hours ago." He paused as Lydecker took the tape from him and slid it into the VCR. Indeed, he saw three motorcycles speeding through the entries, knocking down four guards in less then five seconds. "The temperate-detectors identified four transgenics in the old St. Peter's Pierre. They're hiding in Warehouse 12. And they haven't left so far."  
  
Lydecker smiled. "Good job, soldier. Prepare for deployment."  
  
'She looks beautiful. He thought, staring at the stunning woman that descended the marble staircase. Her dark brown hair cascaded behind her back like a black waterfall, ending in silken curls that swayed as she moved. Cinnamon-colored eyes sparkled, and golden-brown skin glistened under the glimmering lights of the room. Clad in nothing but a strapless black dress that barely reached her knees, and a pair of pristine black stilettos; she was a sight to behold. She smiled, her pearly white teeth flashing behind blood-red bee-stung lips. She now stood a few feet away from him...beckoning for him to come nearer...'  
  
Threat.  
  
The dream vanished in an instant, as Alec's eyes snapped open, his enhanced senses kicking in. The warehouse was as still as the night outside. The rain had finally ceased, leaving nothing more than a cold, humid atmosphere. The feeling of being watched ignited his primal instincts. 'Somebody's here.'  
  
His surroundings were silent, and he could vaguely hear the impartial breathing of his sleeping companions. Something had triggered him, and it wasn't his fellow transgenics. Something moved from the far corner of the warehouse. And that was when Alec remembered, there was a large windowless opening there, big enough for three people to go through at once. His pupils dilated, focusing at the far corner of the warehouse...'there'. His night vision was enough for him to see them. There were around twelve of them, crouching behind the steel crates, their guns unaimed...'they haven't realized I'm awake'. Alec thought warily. That could only mean one thing: they were dealing with ordinary soldiers here. 'Good.'  
  
As discreetly as possible, Alec poked Max who was sleeping beside him. Her eyes fluttered open. He caught her alarmed gaze, and he blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. That meant trouble.  
  
She nodded. A dog-like yawn broke the silence a few feet away from them. Joshua had awakened. And the first gun shot pierced the air.  
  
And that was when all hell broke lose. 


	4. Capture

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews!!!  
  
Chapter Four: Capture  
  
Dawn had broken, sweeping the land with rays of crimson and gold. The sky's resplendent hues was reflected on the surface of the ocean, its cerulean- colored waves rocking gently on the seashore. But no one seemed to care about the environment's beauty at the moment...  
  
"Let me go!" Max screamed thrashing wildly as five soldiers dragged her across the warehouse where a military jeep was waiting for its passenger. The drugs that Lydecker had injected into her were working quite well, reducing her strength to the size of a pea. She finally gave up trying to break free, and hung limply as they hauled her towards the jeep. From a distance, she could see Alec being towed into another jeep. He wasn't going quietly either.  
  
Max turned her head to an angle that allowed her to see Joshua...or rather, Joshua's body. He lay lifeless on the floor of the warehouse, his eyes wide open. A pool of blood was gathering around his head, where a bullet hit his forehead, dead and center. She blinked away the tears that were threatening to spill. Devon and Kade were nowhere to be seen, but Max could vividly remember their pained cries as they were shot.  
  
One of the soldiers, a big burly one with platinum blonde hair that reminded Max of Renfro grabbed her arms and snapped a pair of handcuffs around them, grinning maniacally at her. He pushed her into the back of the jeep where, Lydecker seemed to be waiting for her. The passenger's door shut behind her firmly. And the vehicle rumbled to life.  
  
Lydecker smiled at her, his pale blue eyes unreadable. Max glared at him, her eyes sparking with rage, her brown irises turning into a darker shade, that was almost black. "Max," he greeted her, finally looking away from her furious gaze. The Colonel turned to look outside the window.  
  
"What do you want from me?" she snarled, tugging half-heartedly at her handcuffs.  
  
"You're an X5. It's as simple as that," Lydecker said in a neutral tone. He was still staring out the window, and she could dimly see his reflection against the tinted panes.  
  
"Then why kill Devon and Kade? They're X5s," Max retorted, dropping her hands to her lap. She knew that X5s were worth millions of dollars, most especially they're DNA. Some geneticists would have loved to study even with Joshua's DNA, which was far from perfect.  
  
"They were unnecessary. Although their organs will be harvested, and it wouldn't be too difficult to take a few samples from their DNA. I have already a few geneticists waiting for them to arrive at the New Manticore," Lydecker replied.  
  
Max's eyes narrowed. "So it 'is' true then, there is a New Manticore."  
  
This time Lydecker turned around to face her. "Yes there is. It is approximately finished. All it requires are the soldiers that will reside within it, to train and be the pride of the nation." At the word 'pride' Max scoffed. Killing and murder was nothing to be proud of.  
  
"So me and Alec will be the first of the soldiers," she said wryly. It was more of a statement than a question, nevertheless, Lydecker had something to say about it.  
  
"Yes, that is if, the reindoctrination will be successful." Lydecker said looking away from her, and out of the window again, probably knowing how she will react to these words.  
  
"There is no possible way that you are going to put me through that hell again," Max said acidly, her eyes flashing. "You'll have to kill me first." And she meant it. They won't make her forget about the past twelve years that was the beginning of her life. They won't take away her freedom...her soul...  
  
"Your answer was expected," Lydecker said with a sardonic smile. "That is why your 'children' will be the next generation of soldiers."  
  
"So your going to take my eggs..." Max said, bitterness tingeing her voice.  
  
Lydecker's smile broadened. "No, 452. As we have no longer the equipment to develop the eggs...the breeding will be done in a more natural way."  
  
Max stared at him in horror. So 'that' was the reason that they brought Alec around alive too. He was after all, her breeding partner at the Old Manticore. Something about their DNA being a perfect match. "And what if we disagree to do this?" she asked.  
  
"Then we'll have to – force you into reindoctrination. The geneticists said that there may be a forty percent chance that the outcome will be successful. And not only will we have our two finest soldiers under our control again, their children will be ours as well."  
  
Max bit her lip to keep from screaming. "And if the outcome will be ineffective?" she asked. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest. She had not felt this nervous since she thought Alec was killed during the encounter with Phalanx.  
  
"Expendable soldiers will be eradicated," he said in a business-like tone. "Your DNA will be taken for further examinations. And of course, your organs will be harvested."  
  
"Good," Max muttered resentfully, in a decibel too low for an ordinary human like Lydecker to hear. "Like I said, I'd rather die than watch others die in my own hands." He ignored her comment and continued.  
  
"You know, 452. You and 494 can become very valuable assets to the New Manticore. You are given gifts and talents that many ordinary humans would kill to possess." Lydecker said, quietly. "And do you know what happens when you don't use them?" he asked, his eyes glinting like sapphires. Max remained silent. "What happens to a clock when wound backwards, 452?"  
  
"It breaks," Max replied softly. And the ride to wherever the hell they were going was spent in apprehensive silence.  
  
Five gun shots cut through the morning air, and the sound of bullets embedding itself on thick concrete walls, and denting the metal roof was heard. The head agent of the NSA hurled his M19 with such force that it cracked down the middle as it slammed against the steel post. Familiar strength can do that to anything.  
  
Ames White was not a patient man, and now was one of the times that his tolerance was being tested. "Are you sure that they 452 and 494 are nowhere near the perimeters?" he asked through gritted teeth.  
  
"Quite sure, sir." Otto said nervously wringing his hands together. The other soldiers eyed him uneasily. "But Agent Daniels is presently searching Seattle for them, sir. The thermal-scans are satellite-linked, so it wouldn't be too long till they find them."  
  
As if on cue, Agent Daniels darted out from one of the vans, his laptop on tow. "Sir, I found them. They are traveling south. They're destination is somewhere in the outskirts of Seattle. If we leave now, we can get there before they do."  
  
A scathing smile materialized on White's face. "Daniels," he spoke, already moving towards his parked car. They followed obediently. "You just earned your pay today."  
  
Two hours and twenty seconds had passed since they left the docks of Vancouver, Canada. He should know, he had been counting the time. 'As if there's anything better to do, anyway'. Alec thought lazily tilting his head to one side and staring at the guard who sat in front of him, holding the young transgenic at gunpoint.  
  
"Where are we going?" Alec asked, speaking for the first time. He said this in a very casual tone that somehow startled the guard. He was black, and was dressed in green and brown camouflage. Alec had been studying him for the past hour, and had long since discovered that he was not a transgenic like himself. 'Probably from the military.'  
  
"New Manticore," the guard replied flatly.  
  
Alec raised an eyebrow. "I knew that," he said, frowning. Where else would they be going? Disneyland? "Where is New Manticore located?"  
  
The guard looked almost embarrassed. "Seattle's boundaries. There is no exact address for it." His rifle wavered for a bit as he spoke, and Alec would've been able to disarm him and make a transitory escape if he wasn't handcuffed in both his wrists and ankles. And there was also the tiny fact that quite a lot of jeeps were traveling along with them. One of which carried Max.  
  
'I wonder if she's okay', Alec thought worriedly. He had seen three guards dragging her into the jeep that Lydecker was riding in. This unconcerned Alec, all that mattered was if they kept her alive. 'Of course they will', a voice said in the back of his head 'If there's one thing that Lydecker would want, its her eggs and my sperm.' The thought somehow made him feel more restless.  
  
"How long till we get there?" Alec asked. And again, the guard was startled out of whatever thoughts his was having. Alec was starting to get irritated. It was a damned good thing that they chained him up. Or that guard would've been as good as dead.  
  
"A few more minutes," the guard answered, not looking at Alec but outside the window. Something had caught his gaze. Alec followed it and saw that several tall, large buildings could be seen from the distance, looming in an almost intimidating manner. If there was one thing that frightened Alec, that was Manticore. And the things that they could do to you within it.  
  
They were drawing closer now, and Alec could vaguely see a number of vans waiting outside the chain-linked fences of the New Manticore. 'Great, we have a welcoming committee as well'. Alec was about to say something when gunshots sprayed the jeep, stabbing through the glass and shattering it. Alec ducked along with the driver and the guard as shards of sharp glass flew over their heads.  
  
"What the hell?" Alec murmured, straining to see over the chaos that seemed to be undergoing outside their vehicle. Lydecker's soldiers were pouring out of the jeeps and joining the shooting. And Alec finally saw what had caused all the commotion. It was Ames White.  
  
Panic was rising in her chest as it contracted, she turned around to look at Lydecker, her eyes widening in alarm. She was satisfied to see Lydecker looking perplexed as well. He had pulled out a semi-automatic out of his black corduroy jacket, and his sky-blue eyes were alive with shock.  
  
"Take these damned things off of me," Max half-shouted, shaking her hands in front of Lydecker's face. He must have been on the verge of panicking because he pulled out the key without a second thought and released Max out of the handcuffs. She sighed with relief. She flung the door open, the key still in her hand, and looked around wildly for any sign of Alec, while keeping a lookout for White and his men. She dimly felt Lydecker at her heels, his gun cocked and ready.  
  
Using her catlike vision, she peered through the tinted windows of the jeeps, hurriedly looking for the handsome face that was painted in her mind for almost two hours.  
  
"Alec!" she yelled. "Where the fuck are you?"  
  
"Who are these people?" Lydecker asked, looking quite lost.  
  
Max spun around, brown eyes blazing. "Oh, like you don't know them?" she snapped. "They're sent after us 'trannies' to kill us and be erased from this damned world."  
  
"Director Elizabeth Renfro must've been the one to send these NSA agents after you. I've never seen them in my life." Lydecker said, his voice tinged with honesty. Max will have to trust him – for now. And that was when Max spotted him, lying on the ground, and above him stood none other than White. Aside from the few cuts on his face, and his bleeding lip, Alec looked very much alive. White was speaking to him in a tone too low for Max to hear. He was pointing a gun straight at Alec's chest. Ice gripped Max's heart. She vaguely recalled Logan telling her this: 'Transgenics are a lot of things, but they are most certainly not bulletproof.'  
  
Not quite thinking, Max blurred over to White, the Familiar looked up, a maniacal gleam in his steel gray eyes. But before Max could even reach him, a bullet pierced her chest, sending a wave of white-hot pain to sear through her skin. Red sparks illuminated their selves behind her closed eyelids. She briefly heard another gunshot before her whole world turned to black.  
  
A/N: I 'borrowed' some quotes from other fics...so no flaming... Please review! 


	5. Nightmare

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed!!! And to Gamegirl452: I thought the solar plexus was somewhere below the sternum Oh well!! You had some pretty good points and I sorta forgot all those little but important details... I hope you keep reading even though I made a load of mistakes...  
  
Chapter Five: Nightmare  
  
'She was dreaming. A nightmare, to be precise. She dreamed that she was dead, lying in an ungraceful heap on cold black marble. Darkness surrounded her, interweaving around her body in freezing icy threads. The blackness was so thick that even her enhanced night vision could not penetrate it...  
  
Then she heard a voice. It was distant, but she could make out the words clearly. "Here's a heart for you..." a loud clear metallic click resonated beside her, pursued closely by an earsplitting bang. The sound of someone falling to the floor echoed in her ears...  
  
A sudden feeling of warmth spread through every inch of her body. The coldness was gone to be replaced by the comforting thud of her heart against her chest. She could feel it beating steadily, and her eyes flickered open. The moment she did, she felt the sense of wrongness envelope her...  
  
A pair of cool blue eyes met her questioning gaze. "Listen to that heart," Elizabeth Renfro said, not unkindly. "X5-599 has a healthy, powerful heart. You're lucky to have him, 452..."'  
  
"452?"  
  
Max awakened, loosely conscious of her surroundings. White. All she saw was white. She was in an infirmary. That fraction relatively obvious since she was hooked to half a dozen machines, and was dressed in a mint-green hospital gown that was wide open in the back.  
  
The new ambiance was unsettling, seeing as how similar it was to her dream. 'That wasn't a dream.' Max thought in deep contemplation. 'That was a flashback...'she absentmindedly touched her chest, where she could feel the stable thumping of her heart. It grew faster as the vivid events of her dream – flashback flew into her head. 'X5-599.' Renfro had said...Zack. Her Commanding Officer, her brother, the one who led her to her freedom had killed himself in order for her to live through giving her his heart. 'Live through?' She asked herself. 'More like died...'  
  
She shut her eyes, as a taunting voice reverberated in the back of her mind. 'You're poison 452, you destroy everyone you love...Ben, Zack, Tinga...'  
  
Zack, was presently alive. And thanks to Manticore's immeasurable brainwashing, he could no longer remember who he really was...who 'Zack' was...  
  
"452," a new voice said beside her. She tilted her face to the left side of the bed in order to see her converser. Surprise, surprise. It was Lydecker. The events that occurred earlier that day darted back into her thoughts, the recollections of her past forgotten.  
  
"What happened?" Max asked, struggling to sit up. A nurse appeared out of nowhere and helped her up, much to her protests. She whispered something to Lydecker and left the small yet very much outfitted clinic.  
  
"You were shot," Lydecker replied as if this was nothing new to him. "The bullet landed inches to your heart. You're lucky to be alive."  
  
"Where's White?"  
  
"Dead," the Colonel said in an indifferent voice. "A bullet to the head, courtesy by yours truly. His men are goners as well. They made a bad decision in interfering. You and 494 are strictly Manticore's responsibility."  
  
"Gee, is that a compliment?" Max asked sarcastically. The colonel ignored her, and Max continued in a more somber voice: "So what are you going to do to me now?"  
  
"You remember what they say, Max." Lydecker said, using her given name. She had noticed that he would only use her name when he either wanted something from her, or pitied her. "In everything you do. There is always a choice. And I suspect that you still remember the choices I offered you?"  
  
Max nodded curtly. She did not need to be reminded twice. "You realize that I need to speak with Alec, before I make my decision, do you?"  
  
"Of course," Lydecker said with another indecipherable smile. He had been giving her a lot of that lately, and it was starting to annoy her. It was that kind of smile that usually meant he knew something she didn't. But then, she really didn't know everything. "I will call him," the Colonel stood up and headed for the door. "In the mean time – think. Think about the choices. Think about the future. That is if you decide to be in it." He smirked and disappeared through the infirmary door.  
  
Max glanced around the room, taking in the tall white shelves lined with medicinal equipment, vials filled with clear, translucent liquid, stethoscopes, and almost everything else a doctor would love to own. There were several vacant beds across the room, and, a metal desk that was evidently for the nurse she had seen earlier.  
  
To her disappointment, there were no windows, only the door that Lydecker had gone through. 'It's not like we can escape from this prison anyway,' she thought bitterly. Even the infirmary was most likely guarded. She tilted her head up to the ceiling, and saw, just as she expected, a surveillance camera looking straight at her. 'This place is probably even bugged.' But unlike Alec, she didn't know how to trace a bug in a certain place.  
  
'Alec.' She and Alec were the only ones left. And they were the ones who will be playing a big part in the future... As if on cue, the door opened and in walked Alec himself, looking tired, and exhausted. There were dark circles underneath his beautiful hazel-green eyes, and although the cuts and bruises had healed, he still looked like shit. He was clad in the official Manticore uniform. A gray shirt, and black and white cammies. Nevertheless, he smiled when Max caught his eye.  
  
"Hey Maxie," he said sitting down on the chair Lydecker had vacated. He surveyed the state she was in and frowned. "Are you okay? Good ol' Deck told me that you were almost killed out there trying to save my ass."  
  
Max smiled wearily. "I'm fine. And you owe me one."  
  
Alec shook his head, with a grin. "Max, I owe you lot. This is the second time you saved my life."  
  
"Let's just say that I couldn't bear to live a life without you – not yet, anyway." Max said softly, watching as his eyes swirled and glimmered, with faint amusement.  
  
"Although, at the point where we are. I doubt I'll be able to repay any of those debts I owe you," he looked away, and Max could hear the resignation tainting his speech. "We've reached a dead end, Maxie. There's no way out this time."  
  
"I know," Her voice cracked as she spoke. "We've lost Alec. We've lost our friends, our family, all of our dreams," Max ducked her head, not wanting Alec to see the tears that were spilling down her cheeks. "We've lost our 'lives', Alec. We're back to the cages we were once locked up in. It's almost like being dead, now."  
  
"Not all is lost, Max." Alec said gently, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. Their eyes met and locked. Emerald green and russet brown, intermingling along with the pain and desperation that each of them felt. "Lydecker gave us an alternative."  
  
"Not much of an alternative," Max said lowly. "He's going to force us into reindoctrination, either way."  
  
Alec nodded, thought for a moment then grinned. "Hey, at least we still have each other."  
  
Max's lips twitched. "And where did you hear that? Some sappy romance movie you saw?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.  
  
Alec feigned hurt. "Those words came from the heart, darling."  
  
"Call me darling again, and I'll kick your ass from here to the moon." Max said waggling her finger in front of Alec. To her surprise, Alec became somber.  
  
"You do know that we're going to be breeding partners, right?"  
  
Max sighed. "Yeah – again. That was the beginning of 'Alec' remember?" she asked, trying not to lose the companionable bickering they had. This was one of those times that she was happy to have Alec around. It made her forget about the unpleasant situation they were in.  
  
Alec rolled his eyes with a smile. "And as I recall, you kicked all the way across the room." Something flickered in those hazel-green panes...Max couldn't be so sure. Alec echoed her sigh. "Guess that means we'll be getting reindoctrinated."  
  
Max was stunned. 'He actually thinks that I'd rather be reindoctrinated than be his breeding partner.' She could tell by the look on his face that he was now getting flashbacks on times he had spent in Psychological Operations, undergoing reindoctrination. That was after the Berrisford Mission...after the incident with Rachel...  
  
A/N: REVIEW!!! 


	6. Flashback

A/N: The flashback isn't accurate because I just wrote it myself via my memory of the episode of the Berrisford Mission which is kind of blurry...anyway! I hope you guys enjoy this chappie!!  
  
Thanks to: m/a fan, Tikigirl16, SecretlyBeautiful, Kyla, Jade-K, and Gamegirl 452!!! You guys are the best!!!  
  
Chapter Six: Flashback  
  
'The Berrisford Mansion was one of the houses in the city that did not seem to be affected by the Pulse, looking as pristine and immaculate as if it was newly-built. The interior parts of the house was laden with pricey antiques and authentic paintings that would've cost a fortune in the black markets.  
  
X5-494 should know, for he was sent on a mission there, in that very mansion to terminate Robert Berrisford. The owner of a genetic company that was in debt to Manticore for almost two years.  
  
It was a deep-cover mission. One of his firsts to be precise. Manticore had been prepping him the entire year for this specific mission. He went undercover as Mr. Simon Lehane, the supposed piano teacher for Robert Berrisford's daughter: Rachel Berrisford.  
  
Things went smoothly for the next couple of days, until Rachel started to have – feelings for her piano teacher.  
  
Flash Agent Sandoval stood in front of X5-494, interrogating him about the day's events. "Report."  
  
"I have been invited to dinner, sir." 494 replied without hesitation, keeping his eyes locked on the dull gray walls behind his superior.  
  
For a brief moment, Sandoval looked almost amused. "By Robert Berrisford?"  
  
"No sir, by his daughter: Rachel."  
  
"Do you think she has any romantic feelings towards you?" Sandoval asked, pacing in front of one of Manticore's finest soldiers.  
  
"It appears so, sir." 494 answered, with a nod.  
  
"Play along, 494." Manticore's top agent said. "This can give you beneficial access."  
  
Flash A party was held at the Berrisford Mansion that night, and Rachel had dragged 'Simon' to the pool area of the house. It was nearing midnight, and the pale yellows of the moon could be seen mirrored on the crystal surface of the pool's blue depths.  
  
Rachel smiled as they slipped into the pool. Her face grew closer, closer...  
  
Flash "You will implant the bomb tomorrow morning, when Berrisford and his daughter will leave the mansion." Agent Sandoval ordered.  
  
"Permission to speak, sir!" 494 requested.  
  
"Granted," Sandoval affirmed, looking curious.  
  
"The termination of the daughter is unnecessary, sir." 494 said in a neutral tone.  
  
Agent Sandoval stared at him, irritation evident in his face. "It is not for you to make decisions, soldier!" he barked. "Are we clear?"  
  
"Crystal, sir." 494 said, his voice cracking for a bit. Fortunate for him, Sandoval did not notice.  
  
Flash It was a surprisingly hot day in the city of Seattle which was mostly famous for its frequent rains. The sky was glinting a bright gold, and the sun, clearly visible between two white clouds could be seen reflected on the dark brown tinted window of an expensive lustrous car that stood unmoving in the middle of the Berrisford Mansion's driveway.  
  
494 lurked in predatory silence behind the tall green bushes that contoured the driveway. He gripped a detonator in his hands, and he watched carefully through clear glass windows of the house as the figure of Robert Berrisford moved through the house towards the front doors. Rachel's stature could be seen from her bedroom window, packing the last of her things.  
  
The bomb was successfully planted at the base of the car, and its luminous red light was barely visible, even to the human eye. But then, 494 was anything but human. His heart was thumping wildly in his chest. Part of him was convinced that this was wrong, and the soldier part of him was as merciless as ever. He had killed before, but why does this feel so wrong?  
  
Before he could even think over what he was doing, he had dropped the detonator on the ground and had raced across the driveway. He flung open the double-doors and jogged up the steps, just in time to see Rachel descend it. A look of surprise passed across her face. Yet, she smiled. "Simon, what are you doing here?"  
  
"Rachel listen," 494 said breathlessly, gripping her by the shoulders. "We don't have much time..."  
  
"Simon, what're you talking about?" Rachel asked, baffled.  
  
"I was sent here to kill your father," 494 confessed, staring her straight in the eye. But before he could further explain, Rachel had slapped him across the face. She ran down the remaining steps, calling out for her father.  
  
494 watched in horror as she disappeared through the front doors with her father. He sprinted out in pursuit and just as he stood in the porch glancing around fiercely for Rachel, the car had erupted...  
  
"Get in, 494!" Sandoval yelled from a black BMW, he was clutching the detonator.  
  
But he could not move, he stood frozen, staring at the car that was engulfed in flames, oblivious to the fact that two of the agents were dragging him into the BMW.  
  
Flash "You failed, 494." Sandoval sneered. "And you know the consequences and punishments for failures..."  
  
End Flashback  
  
"Alec?"  
  
Alec shook his head, attempting to clear the painful thoughts of his last Manticore mission. Max's worried face came into his view, and he forced a smile. "What?"  
  
Max stared at him, as if studying him. Then, judging by the way her eyes seemed to go straight through his skull, she probably was. "Nothing, its just that you seemed lost there for a minute."  
  
'That was only a minute?' Alec thought in astonishment. It seemed like a whole month to him. Flashbacks did that to him. It made him recollect every single detail, making him feel as if he was actually there physically. It was almost like I dream, a dream that happened in his past. "Yeah, I just – remembered something."  
  
Max nodded, and a look of understanding flickered across her face. And she asked in a voice, almost too soft for a normal being to here: "Tell me about her," she said, startling Alec out of his wits. He gazed at her, trying to decipher if she was playing him or not. But the look in her eyes was with pure earnest and sincerity. "About Rachel."  
  
'The woman I first loved?' Alec asked himself. Ever since the time he had started to walk, Manticore had drilled him with teachings concerning emotional control. 'Love is a weakness, soldier.' One of his trainer's used to say that. And of course, Alec, not knowing anything else about the reality outside the chain-linked fences of Manticore, had believed that. 'All the bad stuff comes from love...There's no betrayal without love, no loss without it, no jealousy. Half the ugliness in this world comes from it. It cuts and burns and makes wounds that don't ever heal. There's only hatred. You always know where you stand with it.'  
  
But then he met Rachel...and the lifetime of teachings about emotional control that Manticore had punctured him with had quickly dissipated.  
  
"She was beautiful," Alec whispered, his eyes on the glossy white tiles of the infirmary. He could feel Max's gaze on him, and could sense her nodding.  
  
"But that isn't really anything knew for us, right?" she asked. And Alec knew she was right. Manticore created nothing but the perfect...the flawless...the beautiful. All his life he had grown up with attractive people training alongside him. He recalled Renfro say this once: 'People of great beauty and charisma make excellent leaders. People wish to follow them. To see as their eyes see'. She said that, that was the one reason on why transgenics had to be beautiful.  
  
"She's different somehow," Alec said. "Her beauty came in a more natural way...flawed, I guess."  
  
Max didn't say anything, merely waited for him to continue.  
  
"She had this bright spirit that would come alive through her music. She had everything she wanted in life. A loving father, wealth, a comfortable home to live in..." Alec trailed off. "All was well in her world. I have never seen anyone so happy before...so contented. So normal."  
  
"You really loved her, didn't you?" Max asked quietly.  
  
"Yeah," Alec said, touched by Max's earnestness. He raised his eyes to meet hers, and Alec felt the burning sensation in the pit of his heart. A burning sensation of the unseen love he felt every single day he saw her. And it ached, so much. It hurt to know that he could not have the woman he loved most in the world. And he wanted that pain to stop.  
  
"Yeah I did." Alec repeated, holding Max's gaze steadily. "But she's gone," he continued in a voice barely above a whisper. "I love someone else now. In fact I loved her for a very long time. I didn't want to admit it for a while, but I knew deep down that I was falling for her. So I followed her around for a few months, allowing her to treat me like shit. She was the complete opposite of Rachel who preferred docile hobbies and enjoyed my presence. But I was attracted to her wildness, the fire that blazed inside her was intoxicating. I asked myself why I let myself fall in love with someone who hated me so much...but then, hate is only the other face of love."  
  
He was rambling, but he didn't care. It actually felt good to finally let it all out...Max's eyes widened with something quite unreadable. "Who?" she murmured.  
  
"Who do you think, Maxie?" Alec asked, almost sarcastically. But the impact of the words and its chaste honesty was enough to remove the light sarcasm that stained it.  
  
Lydecker chose this moment to walk in.  
  
A/N: And again I borrowed some quotes from other fics...sorry!!! Review!!! 


	7. Dead End

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed!!!  
  
Lakergirl, Ellimelli, willow98002, m/a fan, secretlybeautiful, Kyla, Tikigirl16, and Jade-K!!!!  
  
Chapter Seven: Dead End  
  
During one rainy night the day before 'Freak Nation' had risen, Max had a dream...  
  
'The slick streets of Seattle were overflowing with people: the Sector police, the media, a dozen transgenics, the angry citizens of the city and a few passersby who had stopped to watch.  
  
"You are murderers!" a voice from the crowd yelled, to the group of transgenics that stood in the center of a circular barricade. A chorus of affirmations erupted from the audience. Hundreds of people were trying to push through the blockage, determined to get a good hit at the dangerous 'freaks'.  
  
"We're no different from you guys," Max shouted over the blaring sirens of the police cars, their red and blue signal lights flashing brightly in the dimness.  
  
"Look, it's the leader of the freaks!" another voice yelled. "Oooh, we're so scared!" Mocking, derisive laughter followed this comment, and Max had to restrain herself from lunging at the offending man. Now was not the time to become violent. Their attitudes and well-beings were being weighed right now. And their actions would determine the outcome of this 'freak show'.  
  
"We are not dangerous," Max continued, disregarding the man's disdainful remark. "We never chose to be what we are! You can't blame us for looking like this!"  
  
"Shut up, bitch!" another guy cried out from the front line. Max recognized him as one of the guys that gave Mole a hard time on the road when he and Joshua had picked up Gem and Dalton.  
  
"Keep on saying that, and we'll show you just how dangerous we really are!" Alec snarled from beside her. Max clutched his arm, willing him to calm down.  
  
"You must be the bitch's boyfriend," the guy sneered. "She must be a good fuck."  
  
"That does it," Alec growled and pounced at the man. The minute he did, the police opened fire on him. Max blurred over to the scene, only to find Alec lying on his back on the gravel. A pool of blood surrounding his head.  
  
She checked for a pulse and found none. "Alec!" she shouted in his ear just as it began to rain. She repeated his name again, much more louder this time. "Damnit Alec, wake up!" She yelled, as she choked on a sob. The rain pelted against her face, and she could no longer tell if the droplets of water falling down her face was tears or raindrops...'  
  
She had woken up from the dream, shaking involuntarily, her cheeks wet with tears. She hadn't realized until then that the death of Alec would affect her so much. She had then rushed off to Alec's place to check on him – just in case. He was fast asleep when she dropped by, and she left as quietly as she came. She doubted that Alec even knew she was there that night.  
  
She didn't really think much about her dream, saying to herself that she would feel that way if one of her close friends had died. Like Original Cindy, or Joshua. Alec was nothing more than a friend – a part of her family...  
  
'I love someone else now.' Alec's words seemed to have plastered themselves firmly on the base of her head, in the center of her thoughts; everything else appeared irrelevant, revolving around those thoughts, circling it like the moon orbiting the earth with its ghostly, yet pragmatic light.  
  
It was almost too surreal. Even impossible. Alec was in love with her. 'Me', Max clarified, dumbfounded. Slowly, she put two and two together, arranging the pieces of the puzzle in a comprehensible order that would give her the final picture.  
  
She recalled the look on his face when he raised that knife to kill her – to save his own skin...and when he stabbed it furiously onto the grass beside her. Max had looked at the knife for a few seconds, staring at the way it gleamed and how it had reflected her terror-stricken face. Alec had lain beside her, breathing heavily...as if he could not believe what he had almost succeeded in doing.  
  
Max had shrugged that incident away, knowing that Alec had not killed her because he couldn't bear to be laden with the guilt of murdering his own kind in cold blood. She never would've guessed that he failed to kill her because he – loved her.  
  
And then, there was the time when Max sat alone in her apartment. Miserable and very, very unhappy. Alec had come flouncing in, and she ended up telling him all about Ben...how she killed her own brother to save him from the sway of Manticore. How she had broken his neck in attempt to release his pained soul that was trapped within the body of an assassin. Alec had understood her, had wrapped his arms around her until her shaking sobs ceased, had whispered comforting words in her ear until the morning came. Max had seen that day as the beginning of a real, genuine friendship.  
  
Logan had seen them together that morning, and he had assumed that the two were together, a couple. Max had immediately jumped at the conclusion, seeing this as a way of pushing Logan away from her and the virus, a way of keeping him safe.  
  
And then, Alec found out about it. He wasn't the least bit happy about it. Max had thought that he just simply didn't want to be dragged into the middle of hers and Logan's complicated love life. But know she knew why. He couldn't tolerate the fact that Max was only using him. When he himself actually loved her.  
  
Then the battle with White and the Phalanx broke out. And there was a brief time there, when Max was fighting with Thula that she thought Alec was dead. And there was this uncontrollable anger that raged inside her, that burned her – that made her win that fight. She had never felt so relieved in her life when she saw Alec standing up and alive.  
  
Her dream pulsed back into her head...  
  
Was that it? Was that love? But she loved Logan... 'Then how come you're always depressed when Logan's around? That annoying voice in the back of her head asked. And how come you're always having fun when you're with Alec?' She closed her eyes for a split second and opened it again. 'Logan always puts you in danger...sending you on missions that could've cost you your life – Alec would never do that to you...'  
  
The New Manticore was similar to the Old Manticore at Gilette, Wyoming in a few small ways. They had the same cold, gray walls that were made by thick concrete, the same windowless cells, and the same training fields that were completely grassless. Although this time, the New Manticore was severely guarded. Colonel Donald Lydecker was not risking anything. The concertina- wired fences were at least fifteen feet tall. Too high for a transgenic to jump over.  
  
Every single room and hallway in the buildings were equipped with surveillance cameras, even the infirmary. Lydecker watched from the small black and white screen in the Security room as the two X5s 'talked'. Unfortunately, the clinic was not bugged. And he therefore, could not tell what they were talking about. Though from the looks of it, it was something somberly serious.  
  
He checked his watch which read 4:20 p.m. Twenty minutes had passed since he last left 494 there. He stood up and headed over to the clinic, wondering silently if they had reached a decision. He pushed open the door which swung noiselessly behind him. The two transgenics looked up, and the mask that Manticore had taught them to hide themselves behind in, covered Lydecker's view from their true expressions.  
  
He stood in front of Max's bed, hands in his pockets, waiting for them to say something. When they didn't, it was he who initiated speech. "I take that you two have reached a decision?" he asked, accompanying the question with raised eyebrows.  
  
He could not hold back a smirk at the panicked look on 494's face. A fragment of himself was surprised. 494 had always had this composed, and calm look about him that seldom wavered. Lydecker had always thought of 452 as the more – untamable one. The expression was concise, but the colonel had seen it.  
  
Alec looked expectantly at Max, as if waiting for her to reply. Max did not return his gaze; instead, she turned to look at Lydecker with a raised chin of pure stamina that reminded him of the soldier she really was. Lydecker had a fleeting feeling that she wouldn't be choosing reindoc. "We will be doing the – breeding." The hesitation was evident in her voice, but Lydecker took the answer immediately. Alec however, looked shocked.  
  
"Very well," the colonel said with a pleased smile. That was better, a lot more better than choosing death, or even reindoctrination. Traitors or not, he still considered the two transgenics has his 'kids'. And would not have liked to see them suffer.  
  
The two of them had a perfect DNA match. The outcome would be beyond successful. And besides, they made a perfect couple. Physically speaking, of course.  
  
"I will have a cell prepared for you," Lydecker said. "But since 452 is in no condition to copulate. Your breeding will be done tomorrow."  
  
"Yes, sir." Max said. Lydecker ignored the emphasized 'sir', and left the infirmary to give the two their privacy.  
  
Alec blinked, trying to clear his vision. He couldn't hear or see anything, he didn't even see Lydecker leave the room. All he could see was Max, sitting on the bed in a fragile way, and her words reverberating in his head in a balanced rhythm. 'We're going to do the breeding.' But what did that mean?  
  
Max was now smiling, and Alec blinked again. And this time, he saw what he had always wanted to see – the woman he loved staring back at him in admiration, respect, and saying the words he had always dreamed of hearing. "Alec," Max said still smiling. "I love you."  
  
Alec goggled at her. "Really?" 'What the hell was that?' He asked himself. 'You're the cocky, smooth, slick guy remember? You don't say things like 'really.''  
  
Max laughed. "Yeah, really." She paused, gazing at him with that certain look lovers exchanged each other. Alec had seen her look at Logan like that for a number of times. Only this time, it was directed at him. "I guess I have for a long time too. I just didn't want to admit it." She grinned. "Hey, Alec."  
  
"What?" he asked, grinning as well. He couldn't help it. Who the hell cared if they were trapped back in Manticore? He was trapped in Manticore with an incredibly beautiful, sexy woman who loved him, and had agreed to be his breeding partner.  
  
"Still think we've reached a dead end?"  
  
Alec's grin broadened. "Well, yeah. In some ways we really have reached a dead end. But in my case, it's a really, really good dead end."  
  
And ignoring the security camera that was staring straight at them, he captured Max's lips in a passionate kiss.  
  
A/N: Mwah!!! Leave a review everybody!!! 


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